Finding Out the Future The Sorcerer's Stone
by BalletDancer14
Summary: When James stumbles across an interesting set of books that supposedly contain information about his future, he, Sirius, Remus, and Lily discover secrets they were never meant to know. How will they take it all? Read to find out! Please Review!
1. What is This?

**Hello, again! I'm here with my next fanfiction idea! I've just read a bunch of these stories, and I thought it would be cool to try it out for myself. I do intend to do all the books, and I was thinking eventually about doing another sequel series, like, maybe what Lily and James and the others do to prevent the future that they read about from happening. What do you guys think? Btw, this story takes place in their seventh year. Oh, and I'm using the American version for this story, because I don't own a copy of the original.**

**Also, thanks to everyone who put me on Author Alert and Story Alert and whatever else for my last story, ****Their Secret****! I got on my e-mail the next day, and I was like, 8D at all the reviews and favorites I'd gotten. Thanks so much! I promise I'll come back to that story. I just couldn't wait to get started on this. Maybe I'll throw in another chapter while I'm working on this one? *wink wink***

**Disclaimer- I am not J. K. Rowling, so therefore I do not own the lovely characters, settings, or situations in Harry Potter. I am not in any way looking to profit from this fanfiction other than getting more experience to improve my writing. Please o_o don't sue me. **

**Alright then, enjoy!**

**~oOo~**

**Finding Out the Future, ****The Sorcerer's Stone**

**Chapter 1, What is this?**

James Potter was in the library- no, it's not what you think, he wasn't studying- under his Invisibility Cloak, in the Restricted Section, in the middle of the night. Definitely not studying.

He was restless, and he often found that doing something against the rules, anything, cleared his head for a bit. Spoken like a true Marauder. And he had a lot on his mind.

Why, _why _wouldn't Evans go out with him? He deserved at least one chance, didn't he? He just didn't know what her problem was.

As he walked through the shelves of book after book, he contemplated this, or tried to, because he kept getting distracted by all the books he found, and there were some pretty interesting ones. Most of them were about Dark Magic, and half of these included Voldemort himself and his Death Eaters. Wanting to learn more, he searched on.

After about an hour, he came to a section that he'd never been in before, a doorway in the back of the whole Restricted Area, leading to another room. It was blocked off with rope. There was a sign on the wall.

_Prophecies Through the Ages. Do not enter unless you are of Ministry personnel, _James read to himself. _Well, this should be fun. _He looked around to make sure no one was there, lifted the rope, and stepped inside.

He looked about the room. There weren't that many shelves here, but from what he could tell, there were no books on them. He stepped forward to take a closer look.

No, there were no books. Instead, various items of all kind adorned the few shelves. Boxes in all shapes and sizes, scrolls of seemingly-ancient parchment covered in writing in unreadable languages, even floating spheres of light, in different sizes and colors, which, when James took out his wand and prodded them, merely drifted away from the contact. Strange.

He reached the end of the last shelf, and was just turning to leave after unsuccessfully trying to open some of the boxes, when he spotted another on the very bottom of the shelf, as though someone had tried to stuff it hurriedly out of sight. He crouched down to take a look, and gasped.

The box was old, wooden with a worn leather skin. And on the leather, on the top of the box, a name was burned in golden letters.

_James Potter_

He was confused. Why would his name be here, of all places?

"Prophecies Through the Ages…" he whispered. Well, if these things were prophecies, did that mean they told what was going to happen in the future? And if that was true, and this box had his name on it…

He reached for it, then hesitated. He should be allowed to take it, shouldn't he? It had his name, after all. He should have a right to know about his own future, right? Right. He lifted the box under the Cloak, and staggered. _Merlin, this thing's heavy, _he thought. He would take it back to see what Sirius and Remus had to say about this before he opened it. Peter was visiting his father over the Christmas holidays, who was ill.

Stumbling slightly with the weight, he slowly made his way out of the library and back to Gryffindor Tower.

**~oOo~**

When he reached the common room at last, his arms aching, he found Sirius and Remus still on the seats by the fire where he'd left them, asleep. Slamming the box on a table in front of them, he removed the Cloak as they both jumped awake.

"Merlin, James, don't scare me like that." Sirius whined.

"Afraid of the dark, Padfoot?" James answered nonchalantly as he folded up the Cloak.

Sirius was about to reply, but Remus shushed him. "James, what is this?" He was examining the box curiously.

"I'm not positive, but it has my name on it, there." he pointed and showed them. Remus frowned.

"But where did you find it?"

James sat down, ready to tell them the thrilling tale. "Well, you see, I was just in the Restricted Section, and-

"You were _where_, exactly?"

He was cut off by a voice, a girl's voice, coming from the stairways. They all looked around, and saw Lily Evans coming towards them, a frown on her face.

James smiled. "Oh, hello Evans. What brings you here? It is very late, you know."

Lily only rolled her eyes. "I heard a loud noise that woke me up, so I came down to see what it was. I should have known it was you three. And I suppose I could ask you the same question. Now what were you doing in the Restricted Section?"

He only grinned some more. "Well, I was just about to tell Sirius and Remus here the story. Why don't you sit down?"

She ignored him, and for the first time noticed the box. "What is that?" she asked.

"All in good time, Evans. Now listen." He told them all about his trip through the library, how he'd stumbled across the strange Ministry-only section, and described all the unusual things he'd found, which led to his explanation of the box with his name on it.

"And so, if that whole section was full of prophecies, then it only makes sense that this should tell me about my future, right?" He looked round at them, taking in their expressions. Throughout his story, Sirius seemed to become more and more intrigued, Remus more confused, and Lily more disapproving, though still interested.

It was Lily who responded first. "Look, even if you're right, they must've had a good reason for not wanting people in there, so it's probably not a good idea to look inside."

James protested. "Aw, come on, Evans, I already have the box now, and it's about _my _future. You can't really expect me to just ignore it, can you? Who knows, maybe it'll even say some things about you." He looked at her hopefully.

She looked at them all, hesitant. Sirius and Remus had watched their little exchange from their seats, but now Sirius stared at her expectantly like James, while Remus still looked uncertain, like her.

Finally she huffed, "Oh, alright. Go ahead."

James and Sirius scrambled toward the box, and Lily found it slightly funny that they had seemed to need her permission before proceeding. She knew this to be nonsense, however. They would have done it anyway.

James approached the box excitedly, placed his hands on the lid, and found that, unlike all the others he'd tried to open, this one opened easily.

He lifted the lid, the others gathering around curiously, only to see… books.

"Books?" Sirius said incredulously, but Remus looked thoughtful, and picked one up. It was the smallest one. The books had no covers, but each was a different color. The one Remus held was purple, with red binding. He turned it over in his hands until he was looking at the spine. Here, he stopped and read out, "Year 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

James froze, then looked confused. "Harry Potter? But the box has my name on it."

Remus contemplated for a moment. "Well, he's obviously a family member." But James only frowned. "But I've never heard of him. I don't know any Harrys.

"You don't suppose it's some long-lost family member?" Sirius contributed.

Lily piped up. "No, no, that's not it. James, if this is about your future, then maybe Harry Potter is your son."

They all thought about this idea for a moment. Then James nodded. "Yeah, that sounds right." Sirius added, "If that's true, mate, I'd better be godfather!"

James smiled. "Of course, Padfoot. Now, what are we going to do with these?"

Lily stared at him. "Well, you're the one who wanted to open the bloody box in the first place. Why don't we _read _it?"

The others were surprised that it had been she who suggested this, but agreed all the same. Ignoring the lateness of the hour, they all found seats and Remus offered to read. Everyone looked at him expectantly as he opened to the first page and read, "Chapter One, The Boy Who Lived…

**~oOo~**

**Well, there's the first chapter! I'll get to work on the actual first chapter now, but it will probably take me longer, so I might have it up tomorrow, no promises. ;) Anyways, please review!**

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	2. The Boy Who Lived

**Here's the next chapter! Oh, and today I'm leaving for three days on vacation, so I don't know how much I'll get done. I'll try to work on the second chapter when I get free time though. Thanks! And as this is my first read-the-books fic, I'm sorry if it sucks, please give me advice!**

**Peacock711****- Haha. ;) I try. **

**LynnBrook****- Thanks! Interesting was what I was going for, because you're right, most other "characters-read-the-books" fics always start out the same, especially for Harry Potter. So, thank you, that means a lot! **

**JessandDarcy****- Thank you! ;) **

**the original bitch****- Hahahaha, thank you! I mean, I don't want to make you cry, but thanks! :D**

**GreatOuse****- Thanks! Yeah, that always bugs me too. I was thinking about adding in some of the characters you mentioned in the later books.**

**Here it is!**

**~oOo~**

They all had their eyes and ears focused on Remus. Said werewolf held the book and read out, "**Chapter One, The Boy Who Lived**".

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"Sounds like a lovely family." Sirius said. Lily shushed him.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What are drills?" Sirius interrupted again.

"It's hard to explain," Lily answered irritably. "Just listen."

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.**

They all snickered.

"Very attractive."

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.**

At this they frowned, Lily especially.

_She sounds just like Tuney, _she thought. _And Dursley, where have I heard that name before?_

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley, **

All of them burst out laughing.

"Dudley?" Sirius said through his laughter. "I feel sorry for the bloke!" They all nodded.

James added, "With parents and a name like that, it's hard not to."

**and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

They snickered again.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret. And their greatest fear was that someone would discover it.**

Everyone paused here, their joking manner being replaced by something more attentive, their curiosity pricked.

**They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"Hey!" James let out an indignant yell. "What's wrong with my family?"

"Yeah!" Sirius added. "The Potters are awesome!" Remus nodded in agreement.

Lily was surprised at the strong defense the two showed for their friend's family.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; **

Lily was worried now. This definitely reminded her of her relationship with Tuney. And _where _had she heard the name Dursley before?

**in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. **

James frowned, wondering if this "good-for-nothing" husband could be him.

"Is that even a word? 'UnDursleyish?'" Sirius wondered aloud.

The rest of them rolled their eyes. "Just listen, Padfoot." Remus said.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

James was now convinced that this was his son. "What's wrong with my son?"

"Nothing, Prongs," Remus soothed. "Now let me read."

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing unusual about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,**

Everyone scoffed at this.

**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his highchair.**

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"What's so mysterious about that?" Sirius asked.

Lily huffed, "It's mysterious for Muggles, Sirius."

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the wall. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.**

They all frowned at that. Whoever they were, this family had problems.

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar- a cat reading a map.**

Everyone pondered this for a few moments. Then James said, "I bet it's McGonagall!"

Sirius shook his head. "What would McGonagall be doing there?"

"I don't know," James replied, "but I'm sure it's her!"

"No way, the book hasn't mentioned a thing about her."

"Want a bet?"

"Fine. Five Galleons."

"Deal." They shook on it. Lily and Remus looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen. Then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive- no, **_**looking **_**at the sign. Cats couldn't read maps **_**or **_**signs. **

"McGonagall can."

"Shut up, Prongs."

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he though of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day. **

"What is it with this man and 'drills'?"

Lily glared at Sirius warningly.

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. **

"Again, what's so strange about cloaks? They're perfectly normal!"

Lily said exasperatedly, "For us, yes, but not for Muggles!"

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes — the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. **

"He's calling us the weirdos."

**They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! **

"Oh, the nerve!" James cried out.

"Yes, how dare he!" Sirius joined in.

"Will you two SHUT UP!" Lily and Remus shouted simultaneously.

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt —these people were obviously collecting for something… yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. **

Just as Sirius opened his mouth again, Lily turned to him.

"One word, Black. I dare you."

He shut his mouth.

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. **

"Sounds like a charming bloke." said James, and everyone else nodded.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Hahaha, fatty." Sirius laughed.

"Sirius!"

"Well? It's true."

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag,**

"Come on, even the book described him as 'big' and 'beefy.'"

"Shut up." Lily said irritated.

Sirius smiled.

**that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard —" **

" — **yes, their son, Harry —"**

All of them sat up straighter, eager to hear more about James' supposed son.

"Something big must have happened." said Lily, and Remus added in agreement, "Definitely, they're not even bothering to dress in Muggle clothes,"

James's mind, though, was elsewhere. He was wondering who Harry's mother could be, looking hopefully in Lily's direction. She, though, had hardly spared him a glance all evening.

"Let's just keep reading, and maybe we'll find out." Remus said.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking… no, he was being stupid. **

"There's a shock."

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew **_**was **_**called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. **

Lily, for some reason she couldn't comprehend, was saddened by this. Perhaps it just reminded her a bit of Tuney.

**It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her — if **_**he'd **_**had a sister like that… but all the same, those people in cloaks…**

"Good God, it's not as if they're out to get you." James said in exasperation.

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. **

"**Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

Everyone sat there, shocked.

"He's… gone?" Sirius said in wonderment.

Suddenly, as though the greatness of the event had settled over them all at exactly the same moment, all four of them jumped up and cheered; it seemed too good to be true. You-Know-Who! Gone! They were all dancing and hugging; Lily even wrapped her arms around James at one point, much to his astonishment and happiness, and he hugged her back.

It was a full ten minutes before they had all calmed down enough to read. Eventually they took their seats, and Remus picked the book up off the floor.

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off. **

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. **

"Isn't this guy just a riot?" Sirius half-yelled, still filled with adrenaline at the thought of someone finally vanquishing You-Know-Who. The others laughed.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"McGonagall!" James yelled.

"No way." Sirius replied/

"**Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. **

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. **

"Yep, that's definitely McGonagall." James confirmed. Remus and Lily were also nodding, having been convinced by this statement.

"That doesn't mean anything," Sirius said, but even he was starting to worry now.

**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife. **

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

"Like father, like son."

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: **

"_**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?" **_

"_**Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." **_

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

"They really should have been more careful," Lily said worriedly.

"Well, you can't blame them," James answered. "You-Know-Who disappearing- that would be huge."

She nodded grudgingly.

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear —**

Lily gasped, but didn't go unnoticed by the others, and they turned to look at her.

"What's wrong, Lily?" Remus asked her.

She gulped, and glanced at James, knowing the uproar her words were about to cause.

"Petunia- Petunia's my sister."

There was silence for a moment. Then there was James.

"YES! I MARRY LILY!"

He jumped up, punching his fists in the air, while Sirius and Remus watched in amusement, and Lily sat there, stunned.

How could she have married James? _James_? It wasn't logical. It didn't make sense. She'd spent her whole Hogwarts career veering away from him, and now she was being informed that she was his wife? How the hell did that happen?

Regaining her composure, she said, "Until I see the words 'Lily and James Potter', I won't believe it."

James only smiled. "Whatever you want, Evans. Or should I say, _Potter_."

At this, she took out her wand and pointed it at him. "Don't _ever _call me that again."

He grinned. Sirius and Remus, who were both sure that James was right, tried not to smile. Well, Remus did, at least.

"Let's just read some more, shall we?"

**you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" **

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister. **

James saw Lily look saddened by this, and had a strong urge to comfort her, but knew that she'd probably just ignore him if he tried.

"**No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

"**Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

"_**So?**_**" snapped Mrs. Dursley. **

"**Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… **_**her **_**crowd."**

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son — he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

"**I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly. **

"**What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?" **

"**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"No it's not," Lily and James both said at the same time, then looked at each other, startled. Lily quickly looked away.

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree." **

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. **

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it. **

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were **_**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on — he yawned and turned over — it couldn't affect **_**them**_**… **

**How very wrong he was.**

"What does it mean by that?" Lily asked in alarm.

"Dunno," James said, but for some reason, the statement made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. **

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. **

"Dumbledore!" Everyone shouted.

"Wonder what he's doing there?"

Again, James felt his intuition prick. Something had happened, something other than You-Know-Who disappearing… why else would the cat, who he knew for certain to be McGonagall, and Dumbledore, of all people, be there, at Lily's sister's house? He didn't like it.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore. **

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known." **

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. **

"Whoa, what?" Sirius said.

James laughed, and Remus and Lily rolled their eyes, but still struggled to control smiles.

**He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. **

"Sweet, I want one!"

"Shut up Padfoot."

**Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it. **

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

James held out his hand triumphantly, and Sirius merely scowled as he handed over his winnings.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. **

They all smiled fondly at the description of their Transfiguration Professor.

**She looked distinctly ruffled. **

"**How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly." **

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall. **

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." **

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no — even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years." **

They all widened their eyes. Though they already knew how much longer it would be, this statement seemed to impress on them the greatness of what had occurred in the story.

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors." **

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has **_**gone, Dumbledore?" **

"**It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"**A **_**what**_**?" **

"**A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of." **

Everyone laughed.

"Only Dumbledore would think about sweets at a time like this!" said Remus fondly. The rest of them agreed.

"**No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has **_**gone —"**

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense — for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort**_**." **

When Remus uttered this last word, they all shuddered.

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name." **

"**I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, **_**Voldemort**_**, was frightened of." **

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have." **

"**Only because you're too — well —**_**noble **_**to use them."**

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

They all laughed again.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said "The owls are nothing next to the **_**rumors **_**that are flying around. You know what they're saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

At this, they froze, feeling a sense of importance and urgency in the questions.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer. **

"**What they're **_**saying**_**," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. **

All four of them caught their breath, dreading what was coming.

**The rumor is that Lily and James Potter **

"Ha! There!" James shouted to Lily triumphantly. She looked to Remus.

"Is it true?"

"Afraid so, Lil."

She sighed, accepting the fact that she was going to marry him. Who knows, perhaps she'd had a change of heart towards him, or maybe he just wasn't as bigheaded in the future… but then her thoughts were cut short when she caught a glimpse of Remus's face. It was pale. He had read ahead.

"What is it, Remus?" she asked, but he didn't answer. The feeling of dread that had passed over them previously was now twice as strong. Remus's voice shook as he continued.

**The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are — are — that they're — **_**dead**_**."**

They all sat there in shock. Sirius and Remus slowly both began shaking their heads, unable to accept the fact that their best friend was going to be murdered along with his wife.

Suddenly Lily let out a dry sob, and James jumped up and ran to her. He wrapped his arms comfortingly around her, and for once, she leaned into his embrace, the rest of the sobs finally coming. He rubbed her back soothingly as she cried into his shoulder, Sirius and Remus both at loss for what to do or say.

But then, something occurred to Lily.

"Harry! What happened to Harry?"

James felt a surge of anger welling up inside him. If that _bastard _had gone anywhere near his son…

He gently pulled away from Lily, but kept his arm around her still. James turned to Remus, who still looked stunned, and said, "Could you read some more, please?"

He only nodded vaguely and looked back to the pages.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"**Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…" **

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily. **

Sirius was still shaking his head back and forth, shocked and grief-stricken.

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. **

This only brought another sob to Lily's lips, and James pulled her closer, the anger still present.

**But he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke — and that's why he's gone."**

If anything had shocked them all before now, it hadn't as much as this.

Sirius was the first to speak, an awe-struck look on his face. "Whoa. James, your son defeated Voldemort."

The rest of them sat there until the unbelievable sentence slowly dawned on them too, and soon their despairing faces had turned into smiles of astonishment and delight and, in Lily and especially James's faces, pride.

_That's my boy,_ James thought to himself.

Remus shook himself and continued.

**Dumbledore nodded glumly. **

"**It's — it's **_**true**_**?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"**We can only guess." said Dumbledore. "We may never know." **

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

The mention of their friend brought smiles of comfort to their faces.

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why **_**you're here, of all places?" **

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

"WHAT?" They shouted at the same time.

James was beside himself. "No! I absolutely will _not _allow that!" Lily nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

Sirius looked angry. "Where the hell are Remus and I?"

Suddenly James looked to his friends. "Guys, promise me, _promise me_, that if anything happens to us, you'll take Harry. Please."

They both agreed. "Of course."

James sat back a bit more comforted, yet still worried. "Thanks."

"**You don't mean – you **_**can't **_**mean the people who live **_**here**_**?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore — you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son — I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!" **

"**It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter." **

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future — there will be books written about Harry — every child in our world will know his name!" **

Lily and James were stunned, but then pride shone through them at the thought.

"**Exactly." said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?" **

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes — yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

Lily narrowed her eyes. "He better not be."

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**

"**You think it —**_**wise **_**— to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life." James said.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

He looked affronted, then smiled.

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?" **

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky — and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

Sirius grinned and shouted, "Sweet! I want one!"

Lily glared at him warningly again.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild **_**— long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"**Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?" **

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir."**

He jumped up. "YES! It's mine!"

But James said, "Wait, if your there, why aren't you with Harry?"

Sirius froze.

Remus calmed them. "Don't worry, let's just read."

"**No problems, were there?" **

"**No, sir — house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

Lily and James smiled at the description.

"He has your hair, then." Lily said to him.

He smiled.

"**Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever." **

They frowned.

"**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?" **

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well — give him here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."**

Sirius's eyes widened. "Uh, too much info, if you know what I mean."

The rest of them rolled their eyes.

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

"**Could I — could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"**Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "You'll wake the Muggles!" **

"**S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it —Lily an' James dead — an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles —"**

Lily had tears in her eyes.

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations." **

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall — Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night. **

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. **

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four. **

"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone. **

They were all frozen at this point, feeling as if they too were standing there next to Dumbledore, and nobody spoke, for fear of disturbing the silence.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley… He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter — the boy who lived!" **

"That's the end of the chapter," said Remus.

The rest of them were all silent, Lily letting out a small sob every now and then.

Finally James said, "I'll read, Moony,"

Remus handed the book over and James read out, "Chapter Two, The Vanishing Glass…"

**~oOo~**

**As, always, REVIEW! Later guys. :p**


	3. The Vanishing Glass

**Whew! Here's the next chapter! Sorry I took a while, I just got back from a four day vacation with my family day before last, so I've been a little tired, and I was recovering from lack of sleep. I've done the best I can, working through fatigue, so if you see room for improvement, please give me some advice! **

**Also, I'm giving you all a mission: I've just read a three-book series called ****The Gideon Trilogy****, by Linda Buckley-Archer, you might have heard of it. They were originally published in Britain, and the first book is called ****Gideon the Cutpurse**** if you want the British version, or the American version is ****The Time Travelers****. Also, the second book is called ****The Time Thief****, and the third is ****The Time Quake****. I just think they're awesome, and they don't have as much popularity as they deserve. They have a section on under "Gideon Trilogy", but the section has, like, two stories. I am going to write some of my own eventually for this series, but I want all of you to see what you can do to write some of your own. Trust me, they're AMAZING books, and they deserve a bigger fandom. Please let me know what you can do! **

**NoNeed99****- Thank you so much! **

**the original bitch****- You're welcome! And yes, I do intend to do all the books, though I probably won't do them all in a row, as in I have lots of fan fiction ideas, so I might work on a different story after this before I start the others. And thanks!**

**DeliaDee****- Thanks a bunch! And I know, it irritates me too. -_- I was actually thinking though about adding some other characters like Frank and Alice into the next books. What do you think?**

**JessandDarcy****- Thank you! ;)**

**Disclaimer- I am not J. K. Rowling, so therefore I do not own the lovely characters, settings, or situations in Harry Potter. I am not in any way looking to profit from this fanfiction other than getting more experience to improve my writing. Please o_o don't sue me. **

**Sorry, that was a long author's note. Well, onward!**

**~oOo~**

Everyone was still very shaken by what they had learned in the first chapter. Lily was sniffling, thinking about her baby boy who would have to grow up with her awful sister and brother-in-law, and who would never know his parents. James still had his arm around her, and although she wasn't entirely sure about him yet, she didn't protest. Sirius and Remus were grief-stricken at the thought of their best friend being murdered, and his future wife, too. They vowed then and there that they would not let this future happen.

James looked to Lily. "Are you alright?"

She shook herself a bit, and tried to regain some composure. "Yes- yes, I'm fine."

He turned to his friends. "You guys?"

They merely nodded, still in shock.

James sighed. "Well, I suppose we should read then. Just one more chapter tonight. Lily needs rest." Said witch didn't respond.

Figuring that he wasn't going to get much more response from any of them, James raised the book and read, "**Chapter Two, The Vanishing Glass."**

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets - **

They all burst out laughing, the statement having broken some of the grim tension that had previously held them in it's grip.

**but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

Lily and James frowned, their eyes narrowed, suspicious and worried.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

**"Up! Getup! Now!"**

Lily grimaced. "I've woken up to that voice plenty of times; it's not the best way to start the day."

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

**"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"Yeah, you have. Actually you were riding on my AWESOME FLYING MOTORCYCLE!" Sirius shouted. The rest of them glared until he said innocently, "What?"

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

**"Nearly," said Harry.**

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want every thing perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

"Oh no, that can't be good," Remus commented.

James was outraged, as was Lily. "They treat him like a slave!"

Sirius didn't help the mood by adding, "And think how they'll treat him when it's Prince Most-Likely- Spoiled Brat's birthday."

Everyone glared at him again until he shouted again, "Seriously! What did I do?"

James turned back to the book.

**Harry groaned.**

**"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

**"Nothing, nothing..."**

**Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

"WHAT?" They all shouted simultaneously.

James was shaking with unsuppressed rage. "They make him sleep in a _cupboard_?"

Lily was moaning, "Oh, Tuney, _why_?"

It was for ten minutes that Remus unsuccessfully tried to get a word in to them as the two shouted abuse at the book, until finally he lost it.

"HEY! Guys, listen to me, both of you! Sirius and I already agreed that no matter what happens, we will make sure that Harry's well cared for. In fact, we agreed that we're not even going to allow this future to happen! So no matter what happens in the book, just remember that none of it will actually happen, and that Harry will never have to go through something like this, alright?"

There was silence at Remus's outburst, and at first he began to look embarrassed. But then, before anyone could speak, Lily had gotten up, rushed to his side, and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Remus was caught off guard at first, but then slowly returned her embrace. "You're welcome. I promise I won't ever let anything happen to either of you."

"And neither will I." Sirius put in.

Lily let go of Remus and hugged Sirius also, thanking him. She was surprised that, for the few hours that she'd gotten to know either of them, Sirius and Remus were already willing to do anything for her.

James had watched this scene play out from his seat, and when Lily returned to sit next to him, he reflexively pulled her into a hug of his own.

"I won't let anything happen to you or Harry."

She was silent, but then pulled away, looked up at him, and said, "Thank you, James." He wasn't sure if he'd won her yet, but this was definitely a step in the right direction.

Once they'd all calmed down, James looked down at the book and continued to read.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. **

They all frowned, thinking that their speculations had been confirmed, and that Dudley was a spoiled brat.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. **

Lily looked as if she wanted to say something to this, but remembering their previous conversation, she kept her mouth closed.

**Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

James let a small smile escape here.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. **

Sirius and Remus burst out laughing, and James looked flushed. Lily was confused.

"What is it?" she asked.

Sirius turned to her. "Don't you remember what James here looked like at that age? Nope, sorry Harry. You inherited your father's scrawniness!"

The two continued to laugh, so James merely rolled his eyes, and continued.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.** **Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. **

James smiled, and looked at Lily.

"He definitely has you're eyes, then."

Lily smiled, trying her best to picture what her son would look like. In her head, he looked exactly like James, except with green eyes instead of brown. And going by the book's description, this was a very accurate picture.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. **

They all frowned again.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

**"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

They all froze, and suddenly the fact that Harry didn't know anything at all about his wizard heritage hit them full force. All four of them started shouting so loud that it was a miracle that the whole castle didn't wake. It was lucky they were the only ones who had stayed over Christmas.

"They can't keep that from him forever!"

"He doesn't know anything!"

Again though, Remus was the first to regain sense.

"Don't worry," he reassured them, "he'll get his Hogwarts letter, and everything will be fine, if not a shock for him."

They slowly nodded their heads, and grudgingly returned their attention to the book.

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.**

At this, despite the previous anger that had filled them all, everyone looked to James and burst out laughing. James only smiled proudly.

"Yes! He's inherited the Potter hair! Sorry, son, it's untamable." He ran a hand through his hair to emphasize the point.

They all rolled their eyes.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

They all laughed again. "Good one, Harry!" Sirius yelled.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

At this, their joking manner was replaced by disgust. Dudley really was spoiled, and thirty-six presents was honestly way more than enough.

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

Sirius cringed.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right"**

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty... thirty..."**

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

All four of them had mouths hung open.

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

**"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"Okay," Sirius said slowly, "There's something seriously wrong with this family… no offense, Lily," he added quickly.

"Oh, it's fine; I'd been thinking the same thing, actually."

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

Lily and James, and, indeed, the others, looked infuriated at this.

"How do you think they treat him on _his _birthday?" Lily said/shouted.

James was shaking his head back and forth in disbelief, and it took him a while to calm down enough to read.

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"It's alright, Harry, you have good reason," James snarled under his breath.

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

Lily was saddened by this, thinking she knew what that felt like.

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"Ha! Like they'll go for that! Nice try Harry," Sirius contributed.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

**"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."**

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."**

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

Everyone sniffed, still disgusted by this awful family, and appalled that Harry had to live with them.

**"Dinky Duddydums, **

Of course, this made them all burst into laughter. Sirius was actually crying tears of mirth.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

**"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

This sentence wiped the grin off Sirius's face, as well as the rest of them.

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. **

"Nice description."

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly..."**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

Lily was fighting back sad and angry tears, wishing she could be there with him.

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

This caught their curiosity, and they all sat up straight.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." **

They all restrained angry outbursts at this.

**Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. **

Everyone grinned, knowing that the Dursleys couldn't keep Harry's wizard powers a secret forever, no matter what they did.

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). **

Sirius gasped in horror.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

They all blinked, impressed.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. **

"Wow," said Remus, "That's some impressive accidental magic." The other's nodded in agreement, and pride shone through on James's face.

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"Not a chance, Harry."

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.**

**"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

**"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

All four of them cringed.

"Oo, not the best idea, Harry."

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"Isn't this guy just the best?"

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

**"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

Lily rolled her eyes.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

Everyone burst once again into peals of laughter. Sirius wiped at his eyes.

"Ah, James, your son is a riot!"

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. **

James was thinking about what Harry could do to them accidentally with magic. The images brought a smile to his face.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

This got all their attention, and they felt a blanket of apprehension settle over them.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

**It winked.**

None of them had any idea what was going on, but they sat on the edge of their seats, wanting to hear more.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

**"I get that all the time."**

**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

Remus spoke. "Your son- your son is a Parselmouth?"

The group was confused. What did this mean? Of course, they were all smart enough to know that this meant nothing bad on Harry's part, but it obviously meant something.

James answered, "Well, that's a bit unexpected."

"Shall we see what trouble Harry's gonna get into now?"

Everyone winced, thinking that Sirius's words were true.

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

**"Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

"Yep. There it is."

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. **

They all suppressed angry outbursts.

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

Sirius's face slowly stretched into an evil grin.

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

The whole party laughed out loud, Sirius whistling and clapping.

"That's some trick!" he shouted.

But suddenly, Remus stopped. "Wonder what old Uncle Happy is gonna do now?"

That wiped the grins off their faces.

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."**

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. **

"Ugh, man up."

**But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

"Oh no."

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"They can't starve him! It's not as if he meant to do it," Lily shouted in indignation.

"Yeah, like that matters to the Dursleys." Sirius responded.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"But see? He's a true Marauder! Mini Prongs!" Sirius yelled out.

James stared. " 'Mini Prongs'"? he said.

"Well? It fits, doesn't it?"

James just rolled his eyes, but was secretly pleased that Harry seemed to have inherited the Marauder trouble making gene.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash.**

Lily had tears in her eyes.

**He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. **

Their eyes all widened in awe.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. **

At this, the tears finally escaped Lily's eyes, and James tightened his grip around her shoulders.

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"You see?" James said to Lily, trying to comfort her. "People _know _him. In our world, he's famous. And the Dursley's can't keep it a secret forever. Remus said, he'll get his Hogwarts letter, and even if they manage to keep him from reading it, Dumbledore and McGonagall and definitely Hagrid will do something if he doesn't show up on the train. He'll be okay."

Lily slowly nodded. "Yes- yes, you're right."

James smiled, and as they gazed into each other's eyes, neither of them noticed Sirius and Remus grinning knowingly at each other, thinking it was only a matter of time before the two started dating.

They finally broke off the stare, and James turned to finish the chapter.

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

This last sentence though made the frown come back to everyone's faces, sympathizing with Harry for a moment, and nobody broke the silence.

Finally James said, "It's late. We should go up to sleep. We can read another chapter in the morning." Indeed, when they looked at the clock, it read 2 o' clock in the morning.

The other's nodded, but Lily looked unsure. James then remembered that as they were the only ones who had stayed over Christmas in Gryffindor Tower, then Lily would be sleeping alone in the girl's dormitories.

"Or- or we could just camp out down here, if you want," he said to her, and Lily gave him a grateful look.

"Yes," she answered, and the other two were fine with it, so they all went up to grab some blankets and extra pillows, and came down to settle in for the night.

Sirius and Remus took some of the soft, leather chairs, and James and Lily laid down on the floor with their blankets. Lily was grateful to James for suggesting that they all sleep in the common room, because the book had just given her much to think about, and she was happy to have James by her side.

_What do you know, _she thought to herself, _I might be falling for him after all._

**~oOo~**

**There you have it! Please review, and also, please please please see what you guys can do about writing some more Gideon Trilogy fanfiction. Thanks!**


	4. The Letters From No One

**Hello, everyone! I'm soooo sorry for taking so long to update. My grandmother and cousin just left after a week-long visit here, and they live on the other side of the country, so I've been spending time them, and then when I started to work on the chapter again I came down with writer's block. So please don't flame me. O.O ;)**

**JessandDarcy****- Thank you!**

**DeliaDee****- Thanks! I do, too. Lily and James are just so perfect together! 3 And trust me, the Gideon Trilogy is kina awesome. ;)**

**LunaTheBeast****- Haha, thank you! ****J**

**Guest (anonymous)- Thank you! And yes, the Gideon Trilogy is amazing! **

**DramioneForever123****- Thanks!**

**Dndchk****- Thank you! And thanks for the advice also. ;)**

**Oh, and have any of you gotten your hands on The Gideon Trilogy? **

**Well, here you go! Next chapter!**

**~oOo~ **

The next morning, James was the first to wake. He was still in a state of sleepiness though, and he vaguely felt a warm weight against his left shoulder. When he'd finally gained the ability of proper sight, he looked down and saw a mass of dark red hair, and his mind was probably still lagging, because it took him a few moments to register that it was Lily.

The thought of it surprised him for another moment, but then he felt nothing but blissful happiness. Maybe he was getting somewhere with Lily after all. At any rate, he was glad that he could at least provide some comfort to her, so he gently pulled his left arm out from under her so as not to wake her and placed it around her shoulder. She snuggled up against him in her sleep, and James let a small smile grace itself upon his lips.

He glanced around the room, his head propped up on some pillows. Remus slept peacefully, laying sideways across one of the large soft chairs, his legs over the sides, and Sirius was totally dead to the world, arms and legs splayed wildly over a sofa in the middle of the room, snores that greatly resembled the sound of Fang's growling resonating off the walls. James thought it was a wonder that the other two hadn't been woken before now.

Suddenly Lily stirred in his arms, blinking slightly and looking up at him.

"Morning," she said quietly.

"Good morning," he whispered with a smile.

For how long they sat there silently, James didn't know, but soon Lily lifted her arms and stretched.

"Perhaps we should wake the others," she said, "it'll be breakfast soon."

James nodded. "Then we can come back here, and read some more."

Lily frowned slightly at this, but nodded all the same. James could tell that everything they'd learned yesterday, or earlier this morning, he supposed, was still troubling her, and he couldn't blame her. The fact that they'd found out that they were going to be a married couple someday and have a son, only to hear that they would then be murdered by the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time was definitely more than a little frightening.

At any rate, Lily got up to her feet- James tried to keep the pout off his face at the loss of her warmth- and made her way to Sirius, which James thought was smart, as it would most likely be more difficult to wake him than Remus.

She stood with her hands on her hips for a moment in front of Sirius, as he snored on. Suddenly she lashed out, ripping blankets and pillows out from under and off of him, until he rolled off the sofa and collapsed face-first on the floor, the sounds of his snores now slightly muffled. Remus sat straight up, the sounds of Lily's attempt to wake Sirius and James's laughter having woken him. Taking pity on her, he got up, walked towards Lily, raised his wand, and shouted, "_Aguamenti!_"

A spout of water sprayed neatly from Remus's wand, hitting Sirius in the back of the head, and almost immediately he sat up, and got a face-full of water instead. The others were laughing their heads off.

"Alright, stop- STOP!" he shouted. Remus showed mercy and lowered his wand. Sirius stood up furiously and stomped off to the boy's dormitory without another word, as the other three laughed behind him.

When they had all dressed, brushed, and in Sirius's case, dried, The four remaining Gryffindor students walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As there were so few students left for the holidays, they found everyone seated at one table, rather than the usual four. Lily took a seat next to James, and some of her Ravenclaw friends who had also remained at Hogwarts stared incredulously. Lily winked at them and they turned away, giggling and gossiping to themselves.

After they had all gotten their fill of the delicious Hogwarts food, they made their way back to the common room, and now that they had to face what was coming, their playful mood evaporated more and more the closer they got to the portrait hole.

Finally they were seated once again in the same spots as the previous evening, and Lily held the book in her hands, trying to keep them from shaking. The others stared at her expectantly, and James, noticing her trembling hands, placed an arm around her shoulders. This helped her calm herself, and she took a deep breath before reading out, "**Chapter three, The Letters From No One."**

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

James held in an angry outburst at the treatment his son was receiving, and the others frowned at poor Mrs. Figg.

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. **

Sirius laughed. "James, I love your son!"

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting. **

Everyone frowned.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. **

"Don't worry, Harry, Hogwarts will come get you soon!" Sirius cried out suddenly. They all smiled, and Lily was comforted somewhat by this statement.

**Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny. **

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

"Git," they all said at the same time.

"**No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

The four of them laughed, and Sirius grinned proudly, as did James.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"Well, I guess that's some improvement. I mean, at least there's someone in the neighborhood who doesn't hate him," Remus said thoughtfully. The others nodded.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life. **

Sirius's mouth dropped open in horror, and the other three laughed at the expression on his face.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up.**

Lily rolled her eyes at her sister's dramatic tendencies.

**Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

Of course, this caused everyone else to laugh along with him, as they had already been trying not to as well.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water. **

"**What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question. **

"**Your new school uniform," she said. **

Again, Sirius got a horrified look on his face, and the others merely grimaced this time.

**Harry looked in the bowl again. **

"**Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

They all snickered at this.

"Better watch the attitude around her, Harry," Sirius advised.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished." **

"Yeah right."

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably. **

Lily sighed sympathetically, wishing that he didn't have to go through this. James squeezed her shoulder.

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. **

**They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. **

"**Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper. **

"**Make Harry get it."**

"**Get the mail, Harry."**

"**Make Dudley get it." **

"**Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley." **

Everyone frowned, getting more and more sick of this family by the minute.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and — **_**a letter for Harry**_**. **

"YES!" James and Sirius shouted together, and they jumped up to give each other high-fives. Lily and Remus merely smiled along with them, both happy that Harry's real life would finally be getting somewhere.

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives — he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake: **

_**Mr. H. Potter **_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs 4 Privet Drive **_

_**Little Whinging**_

_**Surrey **_

They all smiled, probably thinking about their own memories of receiving their Hogwarts letters.

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. **

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter **_**H**_**. **

"HOGWARTS!" James and Sirius shouted. Lily and Remus rolled their eyes.

"**Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke. **

"Ha ha, hilarious," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. **

"Come on, Harry, hurry it up," Remus whispered to himself, thinking it very unwise to open it in front of the Dursleys.

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard. **

"**Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk…" **

"**Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!" **

"NO!" They shouted.

"Keep your grubby hands off of it, fatty," Sirius said with a fury in his eyes, and James nodded in agreement. Lily though, who was much too fed up with her sister's family, was too angry to speak. Her voice shook as she read on.

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

They all groaned, thinking that this family couldn't get any more obnoxious.

"**That's **_**mine**_**!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back. **

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge. **

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped. **

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise. **

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness — Vernon!"**

Lily rolled her eyes again. "Oh, don't be so dramatic, Tuney…"

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick. **

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly. **

"_**I **_**want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's **_**mine**_**."**

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope. Harry didn't move. **

"**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"**Let **_**me **_**see it!" demanded Dudley. **

"**OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; **

"HARYY! HARRY! HARRY!" shouted James and Sirius.

**Dudley won, **

They groaned.

**so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor. **

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address — how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?" **

"**Watching — spying — might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"Wow. Just- wow." Remus said incredulously. The others nodded.

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want —" **

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen. **

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer… Yes, that's best… we won't do anything…"**

"Not gonna work…" James said quietly.

"**But —" **

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

"Yeah, like that would work," Lily said scathingly.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard. **

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?" **

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

"Alright, I've had enough of this guy," Sirius muttered darkly.

"**It was **_**not **_**a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

"You tell him, Harry."

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful. **

"**Er — yes, Harry — about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking… you're really getting a bit big for it… we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom.**

"**Why?" said Harry. **

"**Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now." **

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. **

Everyone rolled their eyes.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

All four of them were frowning, disgusted.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't **_**want **_**him in there… I **_**need **_**that room… make him get out…" **

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it. **

They all sighed sympathetically for a moment.

"Don't worry though, Harry, they'll try again, won't they? Hogwarts won't give up until you've finally read your letter," Remus reassured. Everyone nodded.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. **

"Breaking News: Dudley Dursley doesn't get what he wants," Sirius said dramatically. The others laughed.

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive —'" **

"Aw, why couldn't Harry go and get it?" James said. They all agreed bitterly.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. **

"HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!" Sirius and James cheered again.

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand. **

"No…"

"**Go to your cupboard — I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley — go — just go." **

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? **

"Of course…"

**And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan. **

James, Remus, and Sirius sat up a little straighter, the Marauder glint in their eyes, especially Sirius's.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights. **

Sirius was now on the edge of his seat, anticipation on his features.

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. **

"Come on, he's gotta get one this time," James murmured desperately. Lily wanted so badly for him to be right, but knew that even if he wasn't, Harry would get a letter sooner or later. She turned to read some more.

**His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door — **

"**AAAAARRRGH!" **

**Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat — something **_**alive**_**! **

Everyone groaned. "Nooooo…"

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face. Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"**I want —" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

"Ugh, _why_? This is getting downright ridiculous," Sirius burst out angrily. They all agreed.

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot. **

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't **_**deliver **_**them they'll just give up." **

"Really?"

"**I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon." **

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him. **

"Again, he can't really be calling _us _the weird ones," Lily said suddenly. The others looked kind of startled, as she had been noticeably subdued since she began reading, but they agreed none the less.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. **

"See?" They'll never be able to keep him from reading a letter forever," James contributed.

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises. **

"The man's losing his mind," Remus said with a chuckle.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor. **

"**Who on earth wants to talk to **_**you **_**this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement. **

"HOGWARTS!" Sirius and James shouted once more, much to Lily and Remus's irritation.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. **

"**No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today —" **

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one — **

"Come on, Harry!" everybody shouted frantically.

"**Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall. **

"No!"

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor. **

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!" **

"Alright, this is out of hand. He has to get one soon," James said frustrated. All of them had creased brows.

**He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

Sirius smirked.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. **

"**Shake 'em off… shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this. **

Though their irritation had not completely disappeared, they all laughed at this.

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer. **

"Oh, God have mercy on the poor soul," Sirius said sarcastically. Everyone snickered.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering… **

Lily smiled fondly, wishing so much that she could have been the one to sit down and read his Hogwarts letter with him.

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table. **

"'**Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

James and Lily both smiled in a satisfied sort of way.

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address: **

_**Mr. H. Potter **_

_**Room 17 **_

_**Railview Hotel **_

_**Cokeworth**_

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared. **

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room. **

"Ugh," they all muttered together.

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage. **

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"Kid never spoke a truer word in his life," James said under his breath, but Lily heard him, and smiled in his direction.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared. **

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled. **

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television**_**." **

_Oh, suck it up,_ Lily thought to herself.

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it **_**was **_**Monday — and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television — then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. **

This brought grins to everyone's faces. "Happy Birthday, Harry!" They all called out, Sirius being the loudest. James and Lily had sad smiles on their faces, thinking about their son.

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun — last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. **

"WHAT?" James and Lily shouted out. Sirius and Remus looked absolutely furious.

"Well what did you expect?" James said bitterly. "Heaven forbid they actually do something _nice _for him."

Lily nodded in agreement, to angry at her sister to speak. She turned back to the book.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day. **

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought. **

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!" **

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

They were all confused now.

"Really, they'll get a letter to him eventually," Remus said exasperatedly.

"**Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!" **

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them. **

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!" **

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house. **

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms. **

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up. **

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully. **

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all. **

"Have hope, Harry," Lily whispered encouragingly. She knew he was bound to get a letter sooner or later.

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket. **

"What a surprise."

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now. **

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

"Alright, this kid's definitely got the Honorary Approval of a fellow Marauder," Sirius said seriously. James and Remus grinned, and Lily rolled her eyes.

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea? **

They all had looks of apprehension on their faces.

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds… twenty… ten… nine — maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him — three… two… one… **

**BOOM. **

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

They sat there in anticipation.

"That's the end of the chapter," Lily said. The others all seemed to let out their breath, as if they'd been holding it in.

Sirius, who was too curious to just sit there, said, "I'll read, Lily!" She smiled and tossed the book to him, leaning into James's side to listen. James looked very happy about this. Remus tried not to smile at the two.

Sirius held the book out in front of him, cleared his throat dramatically, and read out, "Chapter four, The Keeper of the Keys…"

**~oOo~**

**There you go! I'll try to update soon! Later peeps. :p **


	5. The Keeper of the Keys

***Smiles sheepishly and waves tentatively* H-hey guys, how's it going?**

**OK, I know, I'm awful for making you wait soooo long. If you saw on my profile, my older sister who lives far away from here just had a baby! She's beautiful, and her name is Piper. ^_^ Anyway, we've been getting ready to go visit them, so we've been packing and packing and guess what? Packing. So I'm so sorry for making you wait so long! I don't know if I'll be able to update while we're there, and we'll be gone about a week, so I'll try, no promises. :'(**

**Anyway, has anyone else read The Gideon Trilogy yet? What did you think?**

**And also, let me say that this is the most reviews I've gotten for a single chapter, much less a single story! I want to say a thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers. I don't know where I'd be without you guys! It just makes my day when get on my e-mail and find all these positive reviews and feedback for my stories, and constructive criticism to go with it! ;D Thank you all sooooooo much! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D**

**Dndchk- Sorry for taking so long! Thanks! I was really excited when you said you found the Gideon Trilogy book! Have you found the others yet? I wasn't sure about adding Alice and Frank in yet… I am going to do all of the books eventually, so I was thinking about adding them in the next one. This story takes place in The Marauder's 7th year, though I'm not really sure exactly what year that is, as in the date. And hmmm… bring Peter in you say? *smiles knowingly, strokes invisible beard and walks away***

**RahRahReplica- Thank you!**

**Acveneziano- Thank you! Yes, I am planning on doing all seven books, but probably not in a row.**

**the original bitch- Thanks!**

**JessandDarcy- Haha, thank you!**

**JaixAditi- Thanks! Here's another chapter for you! ;D**

**nannyandpotocrazy- Thank you! So sorry for the long wait!**

**Guest (Anonymous) - Thanks!**

**Guest (Anonymous) - Haha, thank you!**

**Guest (Anonymous) - Thanks! Sorry for taking so long!**

**And to clarify a couple things, this story takes place in their seventh year, during their Chirstmas break so far. I am going to do all the books eventually. I've been thinking about adding some more people in to read with them (don't worry, nobody from the future) like Frank and Alice. And Dndchk gave me a wonderful idea….**

**Ok, sorry, really long author's note. Here is the next chapter!**

**~oOo~**

**"Chapter four, The Keeper of the Keys," **Sirius read out.

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

Everyone chuckled.

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"My God, the man's lost his mind," Remus said incredulously. The others nodded their agreement.

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you – I'm armed!" There was a pause. Then -SMASH! The door hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

"What's going on?" Lily worried frantically; she was already so high-strung she didn't think she could bear it if something bad happened to Harry. James tightened his grip on her shoulder.

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Hagrid!" everyone shouted in relief. Lily let out her breath. It was only Hagrid.

"And this means that Harry will finally learn the truth!" she shouted out. Everyone else sat up straighter in anticipation, thinking it was about time.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all. "Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."**

"Typical Hagrid," Remus chuckled.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear. "Budge up, yeh great lump," said the squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

Everyone laughed at this description of the Dursleys, thinking that they'd deserved what they'd got.

**"An' here's Harry!" said the looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."**

Lily and James smiled, and Remus and Sirius sent grins in their direction.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise. "I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"Oh, shut up, Dursley," Sirius growled at the book in his hands.

**"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant,**

Sirius smiled happily.

**he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

"You tell 'em, Hagrid!" shouted James smugly.

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.**

"Aw! How sweet of him," cooed an extremely happy Lily Evans, "And now Harry has someone who actually cares for him; his first birthday cake!" The others were happy too; this book finally seemed to be taking a turn in the right direction.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

"Be polite, Harry," Lily admonished. The others hid smiles.

**The giant chuckled. "True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm. "What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind." His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

"Harry must be so confused right now," James said. "And by the looks of it, I'd say Hagrid doesn't realize yet how ignorant he is."

"Oh, man, Hagrid's gonna be pissed when he realizes how much Harry doesn't know," Sirius said excitedly. "The Dursleys are gonna be in for it!" They all grinned mischievously as Sirius's words sank in. He turned back to the book.

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley." The giant chuckled darkly." Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

Sirius and James roared with laughter.

"Good one, Hagrid!" they shouted together. As usual, Remus and Lily rolled their eyes, but still tried to control smiles.

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are." The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Call me Hadrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts – yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

"Nope."

**"Er – no," said Harry. Hagrid looked shocked. "Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"Don't apologize, Harry," said Remus bitterly, "it isn't your fault."

**"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows."It's them that should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?"**

"Come on, just tell him already!" James shouted. The others nodded eagerly.

**"All what?" asked Harry. "ALL WHAT?" **

Everyone jumped, because Sirius had shouted this also.

"Sirius! Just read the book!" Lily shouted at him. He merely grinned.

**Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!" He leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

Sirius had an evil smile on his face. "Here it comes," he said happily. Everyone laughed.

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy – this boy! - knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?" Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad. "I know some things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff." But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world." "What world?"**

"And there it is," said James. The others smiled.

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode. "DURSLEY!" he Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble."**

They all laughed.

**Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. "But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous." "What? My – my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"Only because of- of what happened to us…" James trailed off.

**"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare."Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.**

James was now whispering to himself, "Come on… come on…"

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice. "Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

"Let him get on with it!" James shouted angrily. The others had shouted as well.

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage. "You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

"That's my sister and her family for you," Lily said sarcastically. "Welcome to my world."

**"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly. "STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

"TELL HIM!" everyone shouted at once. Sirius was hunched over the book, reading so fast that the others barely caught what he was saying, though they held on to every word.

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror. "Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. " Harry – yer a wizard."**

"YES!"

They all spent a few minutes celebrating and cheering. But then the thought of Harry and what must be going on in his head right now made them sit down, though still with large smiles on their faces.

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

**"I'm a what?" gasped Harry.**

They all laughed at Harry's reaction.

**"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good' un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's yer letter."**

"Finally!" James said, though a little sadly. He was wishing so badly that he could be the one to read it with his son. Lily, sensing his dejection, leaned into his body in comfort. He glanced down at her with a small smile.

Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRYHeadmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)Dear Mr. Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July.**

**Sincerely,Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress**

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"That's the question he decided to ask?" Remus said incredulously.

**"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl – a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

**Dear Professor Dumbledore,Given Harry his letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're **

**He rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was normal as talking on the telephone. Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

Everyone chuckled.

**"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight. "He's not going," he said.**

"Oh, will somebody shut this guy up?" Sirius nearly shouted. The rest of them agreed.

**Hagrid grunted. "I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said. "A what?" said Harry, interested. "A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"Tell me about it," James muttered under his breath.

**"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!" "You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a – a wizard?"**

"Of course they did," said Lily angrily.

**"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?**

Lily's anger seemed to turn to sadness at this point. James comforted her while the others glared at the book.

**Oh, she got her letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that school – and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats.**

"I did not, Tuney! Stop being so dramatic!" Lily shouted indignantly.

**I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

Tears formed in the corners of Lily's eyes, but she brushed them angrily away.

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years. "Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as – abnormal – and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you."**

Lily was hurt at the heartlessness of the words, and a few of the tears finally escaped. James pulled her into a tight embrace, gesturing for Sirius to keep reading.

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!" "CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"**

"I wonder what really did happen that night," Remus said to himself.

**"But why? What happened?" Harry asked anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious. "I never expected this," he said, in a low worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh – but someone's gotta – yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

"Can you imagine that?" James interrupted. "He'd be walking through the corridors, probably with people gawking at his forehead everywhere he goes… he'd be completely confused."

"Well, at least Hagrid's there to sort it all out," said Sirius, eager to learn more about the night when James and Lily… he couldn't finish the thought.

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys."Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh – mind, I can't yeh everythin' it's a great myst'ry, parts of it..." He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with – with a person called – but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows - "Who?" "Well – I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," they all quoted. Dumbledore's famous saying was one each of them always turned to for comfort and hope.

**"Why not?" "Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse.**

"Extremely-awfully-horribly-no-good-very-very-bad." Sirius finished with a proud look on his face.

"Does it really say that, Padfoot?" James asked.

"No, but I just felt like Hagrid's words weren't giving ol' Voldy justice," he answered, still with the smug look on his face.

Lily threw a pillow at him. "Get on with it, Black."

**His name was..." Hagrid gulped, but no words came out. "Could you write it down?" Harry suggested. "Nah – can't spell it. All right – Voldemort." Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this – this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got' em, too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, ' cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Don't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"Or else get a good kick up the arse from our favorite long-bearded headmaster," said Sirius, holding up an invisible sword. The others all laughed.

**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get' em on his side before... probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

"Never!" James shouted. Lily gave him a pat on the shoulder.

**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' – an' -"**

Sirius's voice cracked, filled with an unbelievable pain and sadness. Remus looked the same, and James sub-consciously pulled Lily closer to him. She didn't object.

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his noise with a sound like a foghorn. "Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad – knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anywa..."**

"Aw, Hagrid," Lily said with tears in her eyes.

**"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then – an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even – but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill' em, no one except you, an' he killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age – the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewwtts -**

"The Prewwetts?" Lily let out. "Isn't that Alice's family?"

James whispered to her, "It's okay, everything's going to be fine." Tears continues to fall from Lily's eyes.

**an' you was only a baby, an' you lived." Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

They all shuddered.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly. "Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..." "Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped, he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched."Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured,**

Lily and James's eyes glared in anger.

"Don't touch him," James whispered.

**and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion, asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types – just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -"**

Remus and Sirius looked furious at this. Remus was at the point of getting out of his seat before remembering that he couldn't do much to the book.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word..." In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent. "That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

"Good man, Hagrid!" yelled Remus, still in a fury. The others looked at him in surprise.

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them. "But what happened to Vol -, sorry – I mean, You-Know-Who?" "Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was gettin' more an' more powerful — why'd he go? Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back. Some of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on — I dunno what it was, no one does — but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

The pride coming from James at these words could be felt by everybody in the room.

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

"Doesn't work like that, but you are a wizard, Harry, don't you worry one bit," James said proudly.

**"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard." To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled. "Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?" Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it… every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry… chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach… dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back… and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him? Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

Everyone grinned.

**"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard — you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts." But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

"Ugh, Lily, later you're giving me this guy's address," Sirius said. Lily rolled her eyes, but secretly agreed.

**"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish — spell books and wands and —" "If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was 's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled—" "I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

Everyone jumped, because Sirius had shouted this also, but then James grinned.

"He's gonna get it now…"

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER —" he thundered, "— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE — IN — FRONT — OF — ME!"**

Sirius stood and yelled these words too, brandishing an invisible umbrella high in the air. The others were rolling with laughter.

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

This only added to the hilarity, and maybe it had something to do with them all being strung out emotionally, but soon they were all literally rolling on the floor, laughing at the top of their lungs, tears streaming down their faces. It took a full ten minutes for them to calm down enough to read more, but every now and then, one of them would let out another giggle.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

"Finally, they're- they're gone…" Remus said, still gasping for air.

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard. "Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

"Damn right!" James yelled out. This brought on another wave of giggles. Indeed, the laughter seemed to have allowed them to vent their dark moods, and now they couldn't seem to stop.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows. "Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm — er — not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff — one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job." "Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry. "Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore." "Why were you expelled?"**

"Be polite, Harry…" Lily admonished quietly.

"Yeah, like you've never asked him," countered James with a grin on his face. Lily smiled sheepishly.

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that." He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry. "You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."**

"That's it," Sirius said as he closed the book.

They all sat there quietly for a moment, the europhia from the laughing fit still present.

Finally Remus said, "Why don't we all take a walk? Get some fresh air, get are minds off things, you know…" He was looking at Lily as he said this, thinking of her subdued mood this morning, and thinking that maybe she needed a break.

But then she surprised him. "Oh, please can we read one more chapter first? I want to know what Harry thinks of Diagon Alley."

The boys sat there in shock. "What makes you think that they're going to Diagon Alley?" Sirius asked.

"Didn't you hear? You were the one reading. Hagrid said he was taking Harry to buy his school things the next day. What place is better than Diagon Alley for that?" Lily replied.

The others looked at each other, then agreed on one more chapter.

"I can read again," Remus offered. Sirius handed him the book, and after finding the right page, he read out, "Chapter five, Diagon Alley…"

**~oOo~**

**There you have it! I'll try to update on vacation. Love you guys! (sorry, that sounded creepy…)**


	6. NoticeHELP WANTED

**Hey guys! I'm alive!**

**Ok, before you get your hopes up, this is not an update. I'm just letting you all know that this story is NOT abandoned. I said before I would try the best I could to work on my stories, but it's hard to find free time; I'm super busy, and sometimes if I get free time I just like to use it to relax, you know? But I WILL come back to this story, I promise.**

**IMPORTANT: The other main reason I've taken so long is that typing up the chapters from the book before I actually start writing takes a while too. So do any of you know where I could find a copy of the characters online so I could just copy and paste? If any of you know of one, could find one for me, or even if you willing to help me type them up and send them to me (you could just do part of the chapter even; every little bit helps) that would be an enormous help. I'm not by any means asking you guys to type the chapters for me, so please don't feel obligated to. If you could just find the chapters online that would be great, but some help is definitely needed. I would probably be able to start getting more chapters up here and there. So if any of you know of a place where I can do that, let me know please!**

**Also, do you guys have any requests for stories? Not just Harry Potter either, anything you want. I have some new ideas as well, and I feel like if I had something else to work on alongside this one, I might be a little more motivated to work on them, because this one wouldn't be staring me in the face all the time. I would try to work evenly on both stories. And I wanted to ask you guys for requests so I could do something that I know you'd want to read. That way you'd have something else to read when I'm not working on this one. So if you guys have any requests for a story, let me know via review or PM, and I'll consider! (Take a look at my profile; all of my preferences for books, movies, TV etc. are there, so you'll have an idea at what I'm looking for to write.)**

**Thanks so much for sticking with me guys. I know I'd be annoyed with me for taking so long to update, so a massive thank you to everyone who's continued to read and review. You guys are awesome! **

**Thanks,**

**BalletDancer14**


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